Transformations of the Heart
by QueenC4
Summary: Hermione becomes something that Snape despises. Will their love survive? *WIP*


Title: Transformations of the Heart (1/?)  
  
Author: QueenC  
  
Feedback: queenc@HotPOP.com  
  
Rating: R  
  
Pairing(s): HG/SS  
  
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns everything.  
  
Distribution: Anywhere I send it. Anyone else wants it just let me know.  
  
Spoilers: Everything through 'OotP', except for the death.  
  
Summary: Hermione become something that Snape despises. Will their love survive?  
  
Author's Notes: You can thank this plot idea to large amounts of caffeine mixed with small doses of sleep. If the characters seem a bit OOC at times it's because they are meant to. After all, this fic is taking place quite a bit after canon. Any storyline that takes place between the fifth book and this fic will be explained. Words in *'s are emphasized, words in //'s are thoughts, and words in ~'s are dreams. Enjoy!  
  
Special Thanks: To Child, my partner in narf, for all the help.  
  
******  
  
"I just don't understand how something like this could have happened. We've always been so careful in these types of situations..."  
  
Hermione Granger frowned, trying to place the voice that had woken her. Slowly opening her eyes, the young woman turned her head, her gaze landing on a small group of people that were crowded beside a door, apparently involved in some sort of discussion.  
  
There were two mediwitches that she recognized, the Healer-in-Charge, whom she'd only met once, and another person that she couldn't quite see. However, judging by the body language of the medical staff, they were all quite upset about something.  
  
The only question was, what?  
  
Hermione closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. What had caused her to wake up with her entire body feeling as though it had been trampled by a herd of hippogriffs? And, worse yet, why were so many members of Saint Mungo's Emergency Room staff exchanging heated words not five feet from where she was laying?  
  
// Think, Hermione. You were finishing up your paperwork and just about to leave. Then, the doors burst open and they brought in a patient...//  
  
Before she could get any further in retracing her steps, a sharp pain shot through her forearm. Her eyes flew open as she cried out, trying to raise her arm to see what was wrong.  
  
It was then that she realized that she was strapped down.  
  
"My dear, you're awake! Now, lie still. There's no need to panic," Susan, the head mediwitch, exclaimed, quickly coming to stand beside the bed. Gently, she placed her hand on Hermione's chest, attempting to keep her from arching off the bed.  
  
"Why am I tied down?" Hermione demanded, wincing as the pain began spreading through the rest of her body. "What happened?"  
  
Susan exchanged a worried look with the other mediwitch, Claire. Looking back at Hermione, she offered a weak smile. "Well, Hermione, there's been an accident..." she began. Hermione narrowed her eyes, her entire body now throbbing. "I am not stupid, Susan. I realize that there has obviously been an accident. What I want to know is *what* accident? Why am I strapped to this bed? Why do I feel as though my blood is attempting to boil its way out of my veins? And why are you both looking at my so strangely?" she growled. Then, she froze in shock.  
  
// That didn't sound at all like me! //  
  
Susan opened her mouth, then quickly closed it, unsure what to say. Glancing behind her, she looked at the Healer-in-Charge. "Sir?" she questioned, her tone imploring.  
  
The man nodded. However, before he could come forward or say a word, another voice gently spoke up.  
  
"If you wouldn't mind, Simon, I believe I should take it from here."  
  
Hermione's eyes widened as the Healer stepped aside and she was finally able to see the person that she hadn't been able to a moment ago. "Professor Dumbledore?" she whispered in confusion. The pain she was experiencing seemed to all but disappear from her mind as she stared at the man that meant almost as much to her as her own father.  
  
Smiling gently, Albus Dumbledore crossed the room, coming to stand at the head of the woman's bed. "Hermione, my dear, I thought we'd agreed you would try to remember to call me Albus?" he chided teasingly, looking down his long, crooked nose at her.  
  
Hermione gave him a faint smile. "I'm sorry, sir. It must have slipped my mind," she responded lightly. Then, her face became serious once more, and she questioned, "What's going on?"  
  
Dumbledore sighed, his heart breaking at what he was about to be forced to do. Hermione was a remarkable woman, and someone that he'd come to care for very much over the years. However, it was because of the fact that he'd known her for so long that he was the best person to deliver this news to her.  
  
// Now, that isn't precisely true, Albus. The best person to deliver this news to her is her fiancé. But, since he can't bring himself to even enter the room, much less tell her something of this magnitude, the task falls to you. //  
  
Resigned to this fact, the aging wizard gently placed a hand over one of Hermione's. Squeezing it gently, he peered into her pain filled eyes and said, "My dear, three days ago you were attacked by a werewolf. Unfortunately, during your struggle, he managed to bite you on the forearm."  
  
Hermione blinked, convinced she must have heard him incorrectly. "I-I don't understand. Surely I would remember something like..." Her voice trailed off as, one by one, the memories fought their way through her muddled brain to the surface.  
  
....She was standing at the side of the bed, watching with wide eyes as the werewolf began thrashing about, trying to break free from the restraints. It wasn't paying any attention to the blood that was oozing from its shoulder and neck, apparently having forgotten that it had even been in a fight with *something* earlier that evening.  
  
However, just because it didn't realize that it was injured didn't mean that she could just stand back and do nothing. So, waiting until the werewolf turned its head toward the mediwitch on the other side of the bed, Hermione attempted to press a large piece of gauze against the gaping wound.  
  
Of course, that's when it happened.  
  
The werewolf howled loudly at the contact. Then, moving quicker than was humanly possible to follow, it turned its head back toward Hermione. And, before the young woman could even think to flinch, it clamped its jaws down on her forearm.  
  
She screamed and, reacting on instinct, attempted to free her arm. However, that only managed to tear the skin even further, driving the razor sharp teeth deeper into her soft flesh.  
  
Finally, though, she managed to break free and take a few steps back. Bumping into someone, she finally stopped moving, and slowly peered down at the blood that was gushing from her once unblemished arm.  
  
Then, everything went black....  
  
Gasping, Hermione came back to the present, tears blurring her vision as they slowly leaked from her eyes. Looking up into her former Headmaster's concerned face, she began sobbing uncontrollably.  
  
// Oh, Merlin. I'm a werewolf. //  
  
"What am I going to do?" she cried, not even noticing when the bindings holding her down where removed and Dumbledore gathered her into his arms. Instinctively pressing her face into his robes, she continued to cry.  
  
"It's going to be all right, my dear," he soothed. "You'll see. We'll get through this. Everything will be just fine."  
  
Hermione shook her head. "No," she said, her voice muffled. "It's not. Everything is different. I'm a..."  
  
"Shh," he interrupted gently. "Trust me, Hermione. It will all work itself out. And, you aren't alone in this."  
  
The young woman suddenly raised her head, looking around the room. Paying no attention to the medical staff, she quietly asked, "Where is he?"  
  
Dumbledore sighed heavily, knowing who she was asking about. "My dear..."  
  
Hermione turned to look at him, anger replacing her tears. "Don't try to coddle me, Albus! I'm a grown woman. And, I demand to know where he is," she demanded. Then, her anger faded to once again be replaced by sadness, with just a hint of fear.  
  
"Where is my fiancé?" she questioned in a small voice. "Where is Severus?"  
  
******  
  
Severus Snape knew he was being a git.  
  
He knew that, if the situation were reversed and he were the one lying unconscious in a hospital room, Hermione wouldn't have left his side. He was more than aware of the fact that, by staying in the waiting room, he was making ever fear that the woman he'd loved had ever had come true. However, he couldn't help it.  
  
He'd tried going in there, when he'd first arrived at Saint Mungo's. He'd rushed down the hallway as if his very life depended on it, burst into the room that held his fiancé, then stared in horror at the pale, pathetic sight she'd been. Then, the mediwitch had told him what had happened and he'd turned around and walked away, unable to bring himself to look at the creature that had once been Hermione Granger.  
  
// She's a werewolf. A filthy creature of darkness, no better than Remus Lupin. She's an abomination. She is *not* the woman I agreed to marry. //  
  
Snape sighed, pressing his fingers against his temples as he tried to stave off the headache that had been pounding in his skull for the past three days. He knew that it wasn't quite as cut and dried as his thoughts made it out to be. Everything that made Hermione who she was hadn't disappeared with her 'accident'.  
  
However, the fact was, she was no longer the woman he'd fallen in love with.  
  
No, now she was a *thing*. A creature that, if given half a chance, would rip his throat out. She was a filthy, disgusting werewolf. Something to be hated, loathed, and feared. Not loved. And that was the reason that he couldn't bring himself to be in the same room with her. Because, he knew if he spent any time around her, his heart would override his brain and he wouldn't be able to walk away.  
  
// At least this way I can delude myself into believing that she *has* changed. This way, I can act as though I really believe all that nonsense about her no longer being my Hermione. //  
  
Of course, if he really believed that, then why was he still here? Why had he spent the last three days sitting in a room surrounded by Hermione's friends and damn-near family, people that he normally avoided whenever possible? Why hadn't he taken his own harsh advice and spent this time removing her belongings from his rooms, or finding himself another job in case Albus invited her back to Hogwarts to recover?  
  
// Because you still love her, you git. Nothing is going to change that. Not even this. //  
  
Sighing heavily, Snape glanced up as Dumbledore entered the waiting area. Instinctively knowing that the Headmaster was going to approach him, he tried to adopt his normal cruel sneer. But, he fell quite short of the mark, instead looking the epitome of a man concerned for the woman he loved.  
  
The aging wizard smiled faintly at Harry and Ron as both young men gave him hopeful looks. However, instead of pausing to answer any of the questions that they, as well as the majority of the Weasley family, had, he continued walking until he'd reached his target.  
  
"Severus," he said gently, his voice soft enough that no one else could overhear. "She's awake and asking for you."  
  
Snape sighed once again, shaking his head. "I cannot, Albus. I cannot go in there," he replied. Clenching his hands into fists, he met the eyes of the one person that had believed in him when no one else had. "I cannot and will not."  
  
Dumbledore frowned, disappointment clear in his eyes. "Severus, you love her. And she loves you. That hasn't changed. Now, I must insist that you stop acting like this and go *be* with her," he said sternly.  
  
The Potions Master gave a harsh laugh, finally tapping in to some of the cruelty that he normally reserved for his students. "How I feel is irrelevant. The fact is, she is no longer..."  
  
The older man cut him off, anger filling his face. "Severus, now would be a good time for you to stop speaking and begin listening. Hermione has just suffered a tragedy, that is true. However, how terrible it ends up becoming is dependent on how you react in the next few moments," he stated sharply, although his voice never raised loud enough for anyone else to hear.  
  
It took everything he had for Snape not to flinch at the Headmaster's words. Instantly, guilt welled up inside of him. Knowing that the man was right, that he at least owed Hermione *this*, he nodded his head. Then, rising to his feet, he stormed out of the waiting room.  
  
Dumbledore watched him go, his heart heavy with fear. What if he was wrong? What if forcing Severus to face his fears and doubts caused Hermione more heartache than good? What if the man that he'd seen come so far morally stumbled now, when it truly mattered? Sighing, he sat down in a chair, resolved not to think about it anymore.  
  
// What's done is done. Now all I can do is hope that, whatever happens, Hermione recovers. //  
  
Suddenly, a voice broke through his musings.  
  
"Albus?" Molly Weasley asked softly, clutching her husband's hand. "Has she woken up? Is she going to be all right?"  
  
Dumbledore met the eyes of the redheaded woman, then quietly replied, "Hermione is awake. However, everything else remains to be seen."  
  
// It all comes down to Severus, now. //  
  
******  
  
A/N: So, what do you think? Yes, I know there are questions. Like, how and when did Severus and Hermione get together? However, don't worry. I'll explain everything, in time.  
  
And, now that I've done my part to add to the massive amounts of Hermione/Snape fanfiction out there, how about you doing your part to add to the not-so-massive amounts of feedback for my fic?  
  
*g* QueenC 


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